The Protection of Fundamental Rights in the Legal Order of the European Union

This study was drafted during an eventful and turbulent period in terms of European fundamental rights. After about four decades of gradual development of a fundamental rights doctrine by an increasingly problem-oriented casuistry of the European Court of Justice, the way to a fundamental rights codification at the Community/Union level was paved with the adoption of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union on 7 December 2000, which today embodies the key subtance of the European acquis in the area of fundamental rights. Initially, this Charter was adopted as a mere solemn proclamation, without a direct legally binding effect. A new dimension was opened by the Lisbon Reform Treaty of 13 December 2007 (in force since 1 December 2009), into which the Charter was structurally incorporated by a cross-reference in the Treaty, which declares the Charter to be legally binding and of the same legal value as the Treaty law. On this basis, the second focal point, the institutional protection of fundamental rights, i. e., the system of judicial protection in the legal order of the Community/Union, is analysed. In conclusion, the theory is represented that the existing system of institutional protection can be adapted with minor adjustments in such a manner that it provides comprehensive and effective remedies for violations of individual fundamental rights. The creation of a specific fundamental rights complaint as a new, additional procedural Instrument with subsidiary character is, therefore, deemed to be unnecessary.

Autorentext

Manfred A. Dauses, born in 1944, was a Professor of Public Law with special focus on European Law at the Universities of Bamberg and Erlangen-Nürnberg. He is a Jean Monnet Professor of European Law of the European University Council, an Honorary Professor at Charles University, Prague, and an Honorary Director of the Court of Justice of the European Union. After his retirement in 2009, he has established himself as an Attorney-at-Law in Bamberg. He is the author and co-author of numerous books and professional articles in more than 20 languages.

Inhalt

Contents: The importance of international fundamental rights in today`s world The deficit of comprehensive guarantees of fundamental rights in the written Community/Union Law Dogmatic foundations of the fundamental rights case-law of the ECJ From the case-law of the ECJ to the European Charter of Fundamental Rights On the path to a legally binding catalogue of fundamental rights Institutional protection of fundamental rights.